Past Exhibitions

The Art of Structure

September 25, 2010 – February 6, 2011

THE HEINZ ARCHITECTURAL CENTER

The Art of Structure explores historically radical methods employed by engineers to build bridges and concrete structures with great economy and elegance.

Presented together aretwo distinct exhibitions, The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy and Félix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist, including 20 stunning models complemented by diagrams, notebooks, and photographs. Both exhibitions introduce visitors to built works that enrich the public life of modern industrial, urbanized society.

The objects on view not only reveal an understanding of engineering principles and the construction process, but also convey the emotive power of structure. According to David P. Billington in his monograph on Candela co-authored with Maria E. Moreyra Garlock, Candela was “a structural artist—that is, an engineer who has all the qualities of a master builder and possesses aesthetic motivation.”

Billington and Garlock, professors of engineering at Princeton University, co-curated Félix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist. Billington is the original curator for The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy. The exhibition is organized for Carnegie Museum of Art by Raymund Ryan, curator of architecture.

Exhibition Credits

The Art of Structure isorganized by Princeton University. The programs of the Heinz Architectural Center are made possible by the generosity of the Drue Heinz Trust. General operating support for Carnegie Museum of Art is provided by The Heinz Endowments and Allegheny Regional Asset District. Carnegie Museum of Art receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.